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Yesterday I was vacuuming our living room rug, which I am growing quite tired of, and I flipped it over to vacuum underneath it.

It’s a pretty rug, by Surya: it’s black with gray (cool gray…slightly green) large-scale spots on it, and it fits our colors nicely. It works well as a soft place where my son can build things, like ergonomic stands for the iPad (I am a proud mama). It’s getting older and has been well loved. It looks like this:

It’s a fine rug. But I’m a designer, and I get tired of things. Plus right now I’m in a neutral phase (or at least I think it’s a phase, but that remains to be seen).

Anyway, when I flipped it over I saw this:

It’s perfect. Neutral, slightly masculine, simple, and lovely.

So I flipped the whole rug over. My son helped. We talked about how “flat weave” means “no shoes.” He gets it. Completely gets it.

I layered a little throw rug on top of it, and there it is. I love it. Thinking this will last for a while…

I just wrapped up another semester with my graduate students, and as usual, much of their work was very impressive and my creativity is recharged from being in the classroom.

One of the projects that my students engaged in this fall was the creation of a series of original textile repeats with digital design software. After they made tweak after tweak, we had them produced in the flesh by Spoonflower. Spoonflower is a textile company based on North Carolina, and they allow users to upload original designs and have them printed onto one of the many fabrics they work with for a pretty reasonable cost: it is a fantastic tool for me to use in the classroom, because it makes the designs that my students work so hard on come to life in a way that is motivating and full-circle.

We ordered a sampler, which is 30, 8” x 8” inch samples of fabric printed on one yard (for under $40 – can you believe it!?). Each of their original repeats appears 4 times, as they were uploaded at a 4” x 4” size.This was the sampler before we cut it, all laid out in its colorful splendor on my living room floor:

Here are some of the details of the samples, after I cut them up and pinned them up to create on-the-spot coordinated collections in class. For those of you who have used Adobe Illustrator, you will appreciate that it is no small feat that many of these students had no prior experience with the software, and in about 15 weeks, they became masters of the Pen Tool. I am very, very proud of them.

When I was in graduate school, one of the most magical things was seeing your work come to life, which isn’t always possible when you’re working with buildings and rooms and furniture and fabric. So obviously, I’m really elated that the students I work with in digital design can see their own textile designs take shape so easily. Now they can design fabrics and order them by the yard if they wish to!

If you’re interested in any of their creations, send me an email so that I can put you in touch with the designer: Spoonflower sells any public users’ fabrics by the yard, however, to protect their privacy, I did not upload any of the designs used in class as “public” designs.

Beni Ourain may sound like a person and not a rug to you, but I guarantee that if you pay any attention to home decorating trends or shelter mags you’ve seen one of those black and white rugs like the ones pictured above (via Elle Decor). They get their name because they’re hand woven by the Beni Ourain tribe in Morocco. You’ll recognize a distinct black geometric (usually diamond-“ish” and grid-like) pattern on a cream or off-white background.

Here are three lovely ones. The first is a well-done imitation; even some hand-crafted imitations are pricey these days.

They blend pretty seamlessly with most styles and can fall into place in lots of spaces, but the catch is they’re not cheap. The ones pictured above are starting at $4,800, $4,750, and $2,950, respectively. 1st Dibs has a slew of them, many for about $5,000.

BUT LOOK! I found three look-a-likes for less than $300. Do they look 100% authentic? – No. Are they close to the real thing and 10% of the price and do they look great while being the imposters they are? – Yes. (By the way, I swear I’m not working for Target. I just poked around the website for a little too long last weekend, and had way too much fun. You’re welcome!)

I’m a huge fan of animal pillows, but sometimes, they’re a little too technicolor or kitschy for my taste. Here are five great neutrals that will be at home in a forest of beige or in a technicolor landscape. Take your pick…either way, these add punch! Bonus: they’re not very expensive, either.

I’m pretty convinced this is the *it* color right now. I have three clients who are using some variation of it on their walls, in their furnishings, and as vibrant accents throughout the home. It’s slowly becoming one of my favorites, too.

I know black can be pretty dramatic. Some people find it depressing or too dark or moody. But I LOVE it. I think it’s a happy medium between serious masculinity and glamorous femininity. Lots of clients are gravitating toward black floors and railings, which I think is extraordinarily beautiful…dusty and fingerprinty…but beautiful and worth it. I find black to be a wildly sophisticated and easy to work with color, so bring on the black!

Any of these items would be lovely in a room with equally dark walls, gallery whites, or pastel brights. One of the best things about black is its versatility. Not only does it pair well with almost everything, but it is just as at home with grandma’s antiques as it is with the acrylic ghost chair you ordered last week.